With data collected through one year of participant observation with HarassMap, interviews with activists from eleven anti-sexual harassment initiatives and advocacy NGOs, and community-level surveys with non-activist individuals, this dissertation argues that “cultural” work undertaken through the community-based approaches by entities like ECWR and HarassMap is, in fact, an inherently political process, in which political engagement represents both an attempt to change political culture and state practice and a negotiative process involving changing patriarchal gender norms that underpin sexual harassment at a society-wide level. New conceptualizations of sexual harassment promoted by anti-sexual harassment initiatives and NGOs in Egypt frame it as a form of violence against women, and attempt to make sexual harassment an offense that may be criminalized. Yet, this dissertation contends there is a tension between activist and widespread public understandings of sexual harassment, predicated on the incomplete framing of sexual harassment as a form of violence.
This creative project dives into the issue of sexual harassment against women at work. I applied the topic to a clock and exhibit design, and explained the topic further in “In Conclusion.” The book also documents my senior year research, projects, and experience.
Lexico Dictionaries defines sexual harassment as “behavior characterized by the making of unwelcome and inappropriate sexual remarks or physical advances in a workplace or other professional or social situation.” In this paper, we will explore the role sexual harassment plays in the workplace, its connection to general harassment, and the types of ways in which it exists. We take a look at the legality differences of quid pro quo and hostile work environment harassment and how victims can be treated differently based on the circumstances. We discover how the media covers certain cases on sexual harassment and the way #Metoo created a platform for women to speak on this topic. Sexual harassment has shown many problems in its research and the failure to implement any real change. We learn that in order to produce any change, organizations and policy makers need to understand victim’s needs and the best way to handle claims of sexual harassment. The main takeaway is sexual harassment in the workplace is not a black and white issue, as each victim has their own experience and each workplace has their own unique environment.